Broken AC
by I-Mushi
Summary: The Tri-Cities gets really hot in the summer, so what's a coyote shifter to do when the A/C breaks?


**Broken A/C**

The Tri-Cities always had a summer heatwave that left everyone sweaty, short-tempered, and feeling smothered like they'd been trapped under a hot blanket all night. "Blanket" being loosely defined as any scrap of fabric that blocked the breeze from the fan.

Normally, Mercy cranked the A/C up, kept the garage door shut when she was working (and when she had a garage–thinking about volcano gods made her inch closer to heatstroke), and drank nothing but iced tea to survive. This summer though, thanks to the abuses the house had suffered, the A/C had broken down. Adam, of course, was out of town for security work, the lucky bastard.

Jesse was the first to flee, escaping to any friend's house overnight and eventually a cabins in the mountains owned by her friend Izzy's family. Mercy hadn't quite been ready to offer to chaperone, but that had been three days ago and now she regretted it.

"Next week?" she groaned into the phone. "There's no one who can come sooner?"

"Sorry ma'am, this is our busy season. The soonest a repairman could come would be Tuesday, 10am."

"And that's 10am on the dot, right, not anytime-between-10-and-4 10am?" Mercy confirmed with more bite than normal. She had every right to be short on patience; she hadn't slept in seventeen hours because no amount of nudity, oscillating fans, and bags of frozen vegetables could stop the itchy feeling of sweat pooling and dripping off her as she tried to fall asleep.

"Yes ma'am," the woman on the phone confirmed with enough cheer to prove that the company could make air conditioners work in one hundred degree weather.

"Great, fine." Mercy nearly hung up before tacking on a final "thanks" so she wouldn't be too rude.

Maybe she needed to find somewhere else to stay. Surely someone had room?

The obvious choice was Warren and Kyle, but one phone call later confirmed that Kyle's latest case involved three kids who were staying with him, and guests weren't an option. Tad and Zee had gone to the reservation for the week, supposedly to smooth something over with the fae, but the longer Mercy allowed her bare thighs to stick to the leather couch, the more convinced she became that they'd run away from the Tri-Cities sweltering summers. Zee at least could have _fixed_ her A/C before he left, she grumbled.

Darren and Auriele… no, bad idea. And Gabriel had finally moved back in with his mother, but he had three sisters and no room to spare. Mary Jo was now living with Honey, which was an option… No one she was a big fan of, but she might start panting like her coyote would if she didn't melt. Mercy unglued herself from the leather couch, almost surprised to see that she hadn't left skin behind, and walked down to the basement which was perhaps two degrees cooler than upstairs.

The phone rang three times before Honey picked up. "Hey, what is it?"

"Hey Honey, uh, is your A/C working? Ours has died, and if I don't get some sleep soon–"

"Sorry Mercy," she said, sounding genuine for once. "Our hasn't been working so Mary Jo's been bunking at her squad house and I'm with Auriele. Try Warren?"

"Already did." Mercy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Frustration welled up but she was too exhausted to do anything about it. Worst case scenario she'd… what exactly? She couldn't sleep in the car, the Vanagon's engine wouldn't take it and it leaked coolant when she turned the A/C up.

She'd start working down the pack hierarchy if she had to, that's what she'd do. Eventually she'd just impose on someone and figure out how to smooth things over later. If Stefan didn't live with his sheep she'd even considering going there.

Three calls and three legitimate excuses later (mother visiting, redoing the kitchen, and gone on vacation) Mercy was at the end of her patience and she'd emptied the freezer upstairs and spare refrigerator downstairs of ice. At this point she might ask Warren if she could climb into his ice chest for the night. Either that or she was renting a damn hotel room, and it would be an expensive one since she could smell the last ten people who had slept in a bed.

"Mercy?" came a soft voice from upstairs. "Why's it so hot in here?"

"Zack?" she called. She headed up the basement steps with a washcloth against the back of her neck that had been cold two minutes ago. Already it was nearly at body temperature. "What's up?"

"Guard shift," he answered, shrugging. There were sweat stains on his short-sleeve button up and his hair was flopping into his eyes. Mercy had forgotten that come nightfall Adam wanted another wolf at the house with her just in case. The last two nights she'd ended up hosing down Ben in the backyard in wolf-form to keep him cool and glaring enviously at George, who was unaffected by the heat somehow.

"There's no A/C here," she explained when he glanced around and tugged his shirt up to wipe the sweat on his face. "Wait, Zack… do you have A/C?"

"It rattles like it's haunted and only works in one room." He glanced around, and Mercy wondered if the walls were melting or if that was just sweat in her eyes. "Would be cooler than here though."

"Let's go."

* * *

When Adam returned home three days later, he was aware that the A/C was broken and Mercy had been sleeping on a futon in Zack's room with his window air conditioner set to frostbite levels. Walking through the sweltering house Adam couldn't blame her, even as he laughed to himself at the evidence of her frustration strewn all over. Melted bags of frozen peas were left on the kitchen table, every washcloth in the upstairs bathroom had vanished, all the fans in the house were set up like movie studio lights in the living room, and the sheets in their bedroom had been thrown to the floor in an angry wad. Without any windows open the scent of her clean sweat lingered in the basement and on the bathroom floor, where she'd laid on the cool tile.

"You're home," she said, sounding tired but pleased. "How fast did you drive from the airport?"

"Enough to get a breeze with the windows down," he joked, turning around to look at her. Even with damp patches on her shirt and her hair in a messy bun, Mercy looked amazing in cut-off jean shorts and a loose tank. Adam was already stepping forward to embrace her when she took three quick steps back.

"Oh no, it is way too hot for that."

"Too hot?" Adam asked bemused. "Not even a kiss?"

She darted in for a kiss but danced out of his grasp before he could hold her. "That's all you're getting until we find a hotel room. The repair people are coming tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," he growled. He'd been away for a week from his mate, and he wanted to hold her at the very least. Seeing her hot and sweaty in the bare minimum of clothes frayed his self-control, which already wasn't happy about wearing suit pants in this heat.

"Come on, your car has A/C right? Let's get out of this sauna and find somewhere cooler."

It was too hot for her to saunter out, but Adam's eyes lingered on her legs nonetheless. "Sure," he said, distracted by the lightbulb going off in his head. Mercy glanced back and rolled her eyes.

"I am not signing up to get even sweatier," she warned.

Adam followed her out but before she could hop into the passenger seat he was between her and the car, shifting the seat all the way forward. Mercy put her hands on her hips. "What is this?"

He ignored her and went to the driver's side to do the same, turning on the ignition and switching the A/C to high while he was at it. Slipping into the backseat he leaned back and surveyed the space. "You wanna close the door?"

She did, right in his smug face.

"Nudge?"

She started to laugh and suddenly their bond was open again between them and he could feel her frustration, exhaustion, and humor mixing with her desire for him. He popped a few buttons on his formal shirt and rolled up his sleeves, knowing how that enticed her. _Getting chilly in here_ , he told her, and the back door opened.

"Tight fit," she commented, but when Adam smiled and crooked his fingers at her she climbed in and shut the door.


End file.
